Most ice cooling products in market are ice cubes. The ice cubes are in plastic bags of various sizes, and contain a certain number, usually a large number, of cubes. Bagged ice may be found in most grocery stores, convenience stores, gas stations and/or superstores. These ice bags are typically stored in freezers of such locations. Usually, the ice bags provided by the store require some form of delivery, usually by truck, to the store. Due to unforeseen traffic and delivery equipment failures, ice is very expensive and is severely taxed during hot summer months especially during long holiday weekends and again the issue is raised as to under what conditions the ice was manufactured, transported and stored.
Often, pre-bagged ice bags, whether made offsite and shipped to a retail site or bagged onsite and stored in bagged form, are frozen hard and are days and weeks old before a consumer can obtain them. Such pre-bagged hard ice is stale and can undesirably take on odors during storage or transport. Also, pre-bagged ice often agglomerates into chunks of ice that are too large for consumers to readily use. For example, they will no longer fit into a cup or a can, which forces the consumer to take additional efforts to reduce the ice agglomerate size before use.
There are also situations where one or more persons may desire to distribute a small number of liquid drinks to a specific group where only a small quantity of ice is needed. For example, at a small party, a cooler is usually present filled with ice cubes and a variety of liquid drinks, such as bottled water, soft drinks, beer, wine, wine coolers, etc. If a guest wishes to add ice to his or her glass or cup prior to adding a beverage, then a separate container or bag of ice is needed since the ice cubes stored in the cooler cannot be used for this purpose. Typically, the ice cubes stored in the cooler have become contaminated by the beverage containers placed in it as well as by other people reaching their hands into the cooler to retrieve a beverage.
Furthermore, there are various situations where ice is served to a multitude of individuals in public. The primary commercial venue focuses on situations where a vendor hand-delivers a disposable paper or plastic glass or cup with ice to a customer. The vendor then distributes or sells a liquid or fluid, such as a bottle of water, a container or can of a beverage. The most time-consuming part of this entire process is getting the ice out of a relatively large plastic bag, usually a ten pound bag of ice, and depositing several ice cubes into each cup. Furthermore, the large plastic bag of ice is usually torn open and does not include a re-sealable feature. Therefore, there is no easy way to reseal the partially used bag of ice. In addition, the ice in the large open bag can become contaminated before, during or after transfer of some of the ice cubes to individual cups. This presents a significant health risk to the remaining other customers who may receive ice from the large contaminated bag of ice.
An ice cube mold filled with water may be put in the refrigerator to generate ice cube for cooling the beverage. However, the water used to make ice cube may not be hygiene.
A typical example is the tourist who, by not being immunized against local microorganisms, cannot consume safely the water of the water system even if he or she wants to.
This problem actually exists in most countries, since only a few countries have hygienically safe water available. In practice, albeit to a lesser extent, the need to make hygienically safe ice available exists also in countries where the water of the water system would actually be potable but where, due to cultural reasons and to actual immune deficits, a number of people prefer not to consume water from the water system.
It is known in fact that in many countries the water system does not supply potable water or supplies water that does not have sufficient assurances of hygiene, and for this reason the use of this water to produce ice for human consumption is not advisable. Accordingly, especially in countries with a hot climate, where the need to use ice, for example in beverages, is felt more strongly, it is impossible or at least risky to use ice safely.
Furthermore, ice cubes is typically stored in a freezer at grocery stores, convenience stores, gas stations and/or superstores. When a traveler in the field where there are no stores, no freezer and electricity, he/she may not be able to cool the beverage.
Thus, as recognized by the present inventor, it is desired to provide an apparatus and method whereby that a consumer can receive fresh-made pre-sealed hygiene and flavored ice piece fit with a small opening of a standard can or bottle conveniently, at any time of the day or night, at anywhere around the world. It is also desired that the ice pieces is made onsite to avoid the cost, expense, and time-lag of transporting pre-bagged ice to a retail site where consumers may purchase. It is further desired that the ice pieces can be generated without electricity, refrigerator or other ice maker.